Auburn Football Players Allegedly Harass Student with Service Dog

Auburn University is currently investigating an incident involving two football players who allegedly harassed a student and her service dog on Feb. 17.

Continue for updates.

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Auburn Releases Statement on Allegations  

Monday, Feb. 23

Auburn issued a statement on their Facebook page regarding last week's incident:

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Auburn Players Allegedly Harass Student With Service Dog  

Tuesday, Feb. 17

Elizabeth White of WTVM (h/t WSFA) passed along a note from the female student, Ashley Ozyurt, who wrote at length about the incident on a Facebook page devoted to people with service dogs. Ozyurt alleges the two players were behind her and whistling at the dog and refused to stop when she asked them to quit acting as a distraction.

The players then allegedly became hostile, firing verbal assaults and bringing Ozyurt to tears:

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At that point, in front of dozens of people, my PTSD took over and I withered to a crying mess. I went to the nearest safe place, the Office of Accessibility and reported the student's football numbers that they were wearing their FB sweat suits and backpacks. [omitted], the main attacker, and his hype man [omitted]. I attempted to attend my first class, but after 30 minutes of crying and humiliating myself further, I knew I needed to get home.

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While Ozyurt identified the attackers in her post, their names are not being released by Auburn until they are properly identified. Auburn director of communications Mike Clardy said the school is opening up an investigation to the incident.

"Auburn University condemns any behavior that is demeaning to those with disabilities," the statement said. "We're investigating the reports and will take all appropriate action once all the facts are known."

Ozyurt claims Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn and assistant athletic director David Gunn called her to apologize for the incident. The 25-year-old student is a veteran who began using a service dog after being sexually assaulted while in the military.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.